When he’s off the pitch, 31 year-old Arsenal player Jorginho spends time sitting down with his younger teammates, quizzing them on their long-term plans.
“I ask them what their projects are, are they investing into financial markets or into property,” the midfielder tells the Standard.
“But then sometimes at training I see them pull up with one car, and then next week another car and then a month later another car, and I go up to that player and ask him, ‘Why are you putting all your money into cars? What are you going to do after football? How long is the money going to last?”
The Arsenal star said frustrations over colleagues’ spending habits, as well as worryingly high statistics about professional players’ bankruptcies in later life, made him question how many other young people thoughtlessly fritter away their cash.
“I can see so many young people not just players waste their money, so I’d like to be someone who can try and help somehow.
“If you like nice cars buy a car, if you like nice watches buy a watch, but don’t buy ten watches or ten cars – it’s about finding a balance.
“I’m not saying I make the best decisions but I’m a bit older and I’ve seen a few more things than they have.”
Those concerns led Jorginho to become a founding investor in a new app, Gather, in which he now controls a 10% stake.
The app, which launches this week, allows users to buy into investment funds with only a £30 commitment. It is designed to resemble popular music streaming services, with familiar features adapted from social media, in a bid to make investing more approachable and intuitive. It offers investment into asset management giant BlackRock’s ICS Sterling Liquidity Fund, a money market fund made up of a blend of short-term securities.
Gather is one of a whole raft of investing apps that have sprung up in the UK in recent months, aimed at attracting members of the public without a financial background to put their cash into shares instead of the bank, including US-based app Public, which announced yesterday it was coming to the UK. Many of them have also paired up with superstar sports personalities to promote the app, including London-based trading app Shares, which last year attracted investment from tennis giant Serena Williams. Gather has also attracted the likes of heavyweight Boxer Cheavon Clarke as an investor and ambassador.
It comes at a time of intense scrutiny over football sponsorship, with calls for a ban on betting adverts after Premier League star Ivan Toney, who for years has sported a Hollywood Bets logo across his Brentford shirt, was diagnosed with a gambling addiction in May.
There are also signs of a crackdown on celebrities promoting financial products. Last year, Kim Kardashian was slapped with $1 million fine by the US securities regulator for unlawfully promoting investment into a crypto firm on her Instagram account.
But Jorginho insists his involvement in Gather is motivated by a desire for long-term investment.
“Everyone knows my football career is short and so I want to look after me, my family and the ones that I love after I finish playing,” he said, adding that the app is designed to help educate users about how to make the right investment calls.
Jorginho hopes to play a bigger role in helping steer the company’s strategy as it grows, as soon as he’s got his head around the finer details of the app’s mechanics.
“I need to learn more and then yes, I’d like to [shape decision-making] because I like giving my opinion,” he said.
